Which cosmetics are safe?

Whether you're looking for lipstick, sunscreen or contact lens solution search the following two websites for the exact product, or the company, and see how the products are rated according to health hazards. Even if the exact product isn't listed, if everything of the same type, e.g. lipsticks, by the same company has medium or bad ratings, then chances are, your lipstick of choice also has a similar rating.

1. EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database
They have a huge database, and not only do they break down the hazards by categories such as cancer or developmental & reproductive toxicity, they also list every single ingredient and their ratings, as well!

2. GoodGuide
I love how they also rate the product's impact on health but also on the environment and society. Furthermore, they also list alternatives with better ratings. This is a great way to easily find products to switch to! And they also rate other products, not just cosmetics, such as household cleaning products and apparel.

And now back to clearing out my bathroom cabinets....

Are there similar websites you know of, that rate various cosmetics and cleaning products? Share in the comments!

Disinfecting a camping water filter without bleach: NOT recommended

I've been trying to avoid bleach, but the Katadyn water filter I use to filter water while camping requires the disinfecting of the filter with bleach before drying it out for storage. I've been using grapefruit seed extract (GSE) instead, so I thought I'd share my recipe and how I came up with it. Disclaimer: My filter eventually got mouldy, so I don't think this works too well, but feel free to try it yourself.

Recipe

Add 100 drops of GSE into 1 gallon of water. Stir well, and pump all of the liquid through the filter. Disassemble and dry. When using again, pump 1 liter of water through it to clear out the GSE.

Why 100 drops? 

Normally, you would use 2 teaspoons of bleach in 1 gallon of water to clean the water filter for storage. So how much if GSE is that equivalent to? For emergency disinfecting of water, you use 1/8 teaspoon of bleach, or 6-30 drops of GSE. Counting with the lower value, we get 1/8 teaspoon bleach = 6 drops of GSE. In other words, 2 teaspoons bleach = 96 drops of GSE. At maximum (counting with the 30), we would get 2 teaspoons bleach = 480 drops GSE... but I don't have the patience to count that many drops!

EDIT: This method DOES NOT seem to work nearly as well as disinfecting with bleach. When I used the water filter later, the water had a funny taste, and upon disassembling, I saw mold growing on the entire filter, and it smelled like a towel that has been standing wet for too long. I don't know whether this was related to the fact that I had disinfected with GSE, but I DO know that in previous years, while cleaning with bleach, my filters always remained perfectly clean and mold-free after camping trips.

Black mold growing in spots. It's too small to see on this photo, but there also are tiny black specks of mold covering the entire filter. The filter should have remained snow-white near the outflow end.

Non-stick skillets that won't leach chemicals

It's hard to find a skillet that's non-stick and doesn't have a Teflon coating. I'd like to avoid Teflon because it's a known carcinogen. And the fumes are so unhealthy, that using non-stick pans in your home is fatal to pet birds! (Although, the burning food itself can also be the culprit.)

Materials to avoid

• Teflon (a brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE) and other non-stick coatings. This includes Cuisinart QuanTanium, DuPont Autograph 2, Swiss Diamond, T-Fal, Eterna, Excalibur, Xylan.
• Stainless steel with a high nickel content
• There is a simple test to determine if your stainless – or the stainless you wish to purchase – is okay or not. If a magnet sticks to your pot/pan – you are safe. If it does not, there is too much nickel.
• Aluminum (pots and pans, foil, cans, etc.)
• Hard-anodized aluminum(?)
• Conflicting evidence on whether it leaches aluminum into the food or not
• The Brandy Wine Science Center Inc. performed tests for leaching on various types of cookware including hard-anodized aluminum. The study tested for metals like iron, nickel, copper and aluminum. The final results showed that hard-anodized aluminum does leach 7.10 milligrams per liter of liquid used in the test.
• "PFOA-free" doesn't mean much
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) can be used in the manufacturing process. PFOA is a pollutant and toxin, but does not remain in the final product
• When they say PFOA free, it means that particular chemical wasn’t used in the manufacture of PTFE. But the coating still contains PTFE.

Things to look for

• Stainless steel
• Check that a magnet sticks
• Ceramic-based coating
• E.g. Greblon, Thermolon and EcoLon coatings
• Used by brands Ozeri pans, Cook Kitchen, Joseph Strauss, Zwilling J.A. Henckells Thermolon coating cookware, NeoFlam
• Cast iron
• Enamel
• Glass, e.g. Pyrex
• Hard-anodized aluminum with no additional non-stick coating
• If we're looking for non-stick, this is the best of the lot
• Cook at the lowest heat possible to reduce leaching into food.

Cast iron pans are definitely safe and after they have been properly seasoned, they won't stick, either.

How to make food not stick to a stainless steel pan

Pre-heat the pan, and then add the oil/fat. Wait for a tell-tale wisp of smoke from the pan before adding your ingredients for cooking.

I can't actually find any hard-anodized aluminum pans with no additional non-stick coating on them. Are there any brands you know of? Share in the comments!

My switch to a standing desk

Sort of off-topic, but I decided to turn my office desk into a standing desk today! I must say, the first person in the office must have been brave to be the only person standing in a sea of sitting people. By now there are three of us!

You just put your monitors, keyboard and mouse on top of two large plastic boxes or crates.

And here is an infographic I love, which illustrates how important it is to not sit all day. (Source: link)

Air mattresses emit harmful fumes

I'm renting a room away from home for two month, and trying to stay minimalist, I opted for a luxurious queen-sized air mattress instead of a bed. However, I come home to my room smelling of the air mattress each day, despite an open screen door, and I'm sure those odors can't be good for me.

these day they are almost universally made with PVC, which outgasses harmful fumes long after that telltale “new mattress smell” has dissipated and can contain lead. - See more at: http://thegreenmomreview.com/2010/12/17/non-toxic-air-mattresses/#sthash.Xlp8CdTA.dpuf

These days, air mattresses are almost universally made with PVC, which outgasses harmful phthalate fumes long after that tell-tale “new mattress smell” has dissipated and can contain lead. PVC is considered to be one of the most dangerous plastics still manufactured, and is made using an astonishing number of chemical compounds that have been proven to be dangerous, including dioxins, phthalates, vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, lead, cadmium, and organotins.

I'm thinking of either wrapping the whole mattress with an air-tight bag (any ideas for something this big?), or sleeping in my sleeping bag on my balcony, instead. I'll let you know how that goes!

these day they are almost universally made with PVC, which outgasses harmful fumes long after that telltale “new mattress smell” has dissipated and can contain lead. - See more at: http://thegreenmomreview.com/2010/12/17/non-toxic-air-mattresses/#sthash.Xlp8CdTA.dpuf

these day they are almost universally made with PVC, which outgasses harmful fumes long after that telltale “new mattress smell” has dissipated and can contain lead. - See more at: http://thegreenmomreview.com/2010/12/17/non-toxic-air-mattresses/#sthash.Xlp8CdTA.dpuf

Homemade green household cleaners

Here are the green cleaning product recipes that worked for me:

Alvin Corn Homemade Glass Cleaner

• 1/4 c. rubbing alcohol
• 1/4 c. white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 c. warm water

I found it here.

Leather Wipes

• 4 c. warm water
• 1 Tbsp pure Castille soap (mild vegetable soap for babies)
• 1-2 drops vinegar

House freshener recipes

1. Simmer the zest of a lemon in water with a teaspoon of cinnamon on the kitchen stove.
2. Simmer an inch of water with 10 cloves.

Hunting for good sunscreen

A few days ago, I was planning for a camping trip and needed some new sunscreen to replace my old lotions. I found out that I need to watch out for:

• No Spray Sunscreens
• No Super-High SPFs >50
• No Oxybenzone
• No Loose Powder Sunscreens
• No Retinyl Palmitate*
• No Combined Sunscreen/Bug Repellents
• No Sunscreen Towelettes
• No Tanning Oils

* My sunscreen was guilty of this one. Studies have found that it may speed development of skin tumors and lesions.

So, I spent an hour reading sunscreen labels in CVS and Whole Foods, trying to choose based on the database of sunscreens that meet EWG's criteria. I finally settled on this one from CVS, which costs a fraction of the brands I found at Whole Foods and still gets a 2 out of 10 rating (that's really good):
CVS Baby Sun Lotion Broad Spectrum Sunscreen, SPF 50

Heading out to the camping trip, I couldn't help wondering, though: if a chemical is harmful enough that they don't put it in sunscreen for babies, why would they put it into adult sunscreen? I soon got my answer: it's because these sunscreens apparently make your skin visibly white instead of seeping into your skin! My camping buddies said I looked like I was preparing for geisha makeup, and I had to reapply pretty often, too. Luckily, during camping, I don't care how I look!

What sunscreen would you recommend that is good and doesn't break the bank? Share in the comments!

Finally, here's a great infographic I found on the EWG website:

My "to do" list

Here's a list of the things on my "to do" list, in order to detoxify my home and my body.

• Avoid Mercury
• Don't eat fish high on food chain and prefer light tuna over albacore or "white" tuna.
• Avoid PFOA and PTFE
• Found in Teflon cookware, many nonstick and water-resistant materials, frozen pizza packaging, French fry containers, packaged-for-heating foods
• Don't eat fast food
• Buy stainless steel, cast iron or enamel pots and pans.
• Avoid BPA
• Found in plastic containers, canned food like coconut milk, soup, meat, vegetables, juice, fish, fruit and beans
• Pre-soak and freeze beans instead of buying in cans
• Eat out less
• French press coffee instead of using coffee makers with plastic tanks and tubing
• Avoid vinyl and polyurethane flooring
• Reduce exposure to THMs
• Leave drinking water standing, uncovered, for several hours
• Take shorter and cooler showers or, even better: take a bath
• Filter out many things from drinking water with carbon or charcoal filter combined with a reverse osmosis system. Check NSF website's database for comparison of products.
• Use green cleaning products
• Look for ingredient disclosure and not the words "green", "biodegradable" or "non-toxic" on the front (these don't mean anything!), e.g. Seventh Generation and Ecover are good
• Use homemade cleaning products made of vinegar, baking soda, etc.
• Look up cleaning products in the EWG database or on GoodGuide.com
• Avoid insect sprays and flea and tick solutions
• Instead: boric acid, vinegar+water, or diatomaceous earth
• Check EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database for safe sunscreen, personal care products and cosmetics, and make my own cosmetics as often as I can
• Avoid toxins in baby's stuff
• Buy only plastic products sold after 2009
• Look for low or no VOC in paint
• Make sure there is no formaldehyde in particle board or avpod particle wood altogether
• Limit electronic equipment in room, especially older models
• Use natural body care products such as Vitamin E, safflower oil or olive oil instead of lotion.
• Produce in the "dirty dozen" has to be bought organic
• Download or purchase the following apps:
• EWG Shopper's Guide for "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15".
• Chemical Cuisine for health risks of food additives
• Keep house germ-free
• Wash out veggie drawer in fridge once a month
• Buy plastic chopping board, not wood. Also, if it gets worn and grooved, replace.

 Bonus

• When pregnant, sign up for National Children's Study
• Check that our home, school or workplace isn't near an uncontrolled hazardous waste site, or Superfund site

Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about the fact that I live in smog-filled LA. Or the vinyl flooring in our rental. I promise myself that we'll move when I graduate from school. This tree-lined pocket of apartments between the freeway and electric power lines is just such a good deal in otherwise unaffordable West LA..! (I'm bad, I know.)

What else would you put on your "to do" list? Share in the comments!

Why make the switch to green?

I recently read the book called The Autism Puzzle by Brita Belli, and the book was full of interesting and really scary facts about toxins in our environment and their possible connection to autism. It was shocking to find out how high in concentration heavy metals, BPA, flame retardants and other chemicals are in our environment and our bodies. And what's worse, pregnant and nursing mothers often pass these chemicals to their babies, which wreak havoc on a developing fetus. Combine this knowledge with the fact that my husband and I are planning on starting a family, and I got really freaked out! Hence, my switch to green.

This blog will be my notebook of resources, and I hope it helps others in their journey.

What made you switch to green? Share in the comments!